Landscape painter . See Landscape Painting.

The Italian, Flemish, and Dutch schools have produced the greatest number of excellent artists in this genre of painting.

The sites painted by Albano [1] are pleasant and stimulating. Bassano [2] made himself praiseworthy by the truth that reigned in his landscape paintings; he always followed the study of nature which he knew how to express after becoming acquainted with the rural places in which he lived. Few painters have better brushstrokes for foliage than the Bolognese. Borzoni (François - Marie),  [3] born in Genoa in 1625, and died in the same city in 1679, also displayed his talents in this genre with his nine great landscapes painted in oil which we see in the vestibule of the Jardin de l’Infante.

Annibale Carracci distinguished himself not only by a taste for noble and accurate drawing, he also knew how to treat landscape, and excelled in it; his trees have an exquisite form, and a very delicate brushstroke. [4] The pictures by Giorgione have a superior taste for colors and contrasts of light. [5] Gaspard exhibited a distinctive art for showing the wind, giving movement to the leaves in the trees, in short, for representing squalls and thunderstorms. [6] Lorrain, by dint of study, became a great landscape painter in the rendition of inanimate objects, but since he lacked the talent to paint figures, most of those seen in his works are by other artists. [7] Mola chose the most beautiful sites, and his manner of applying the foliage to the trees is charming. [8] Muziano took a great deal in this genre from the Flemish manner because the Italians have not sought the art of foliage as much as the Flemings; [9] therefore he covered the branches of all the trees in a style he believed would render them acceptable and threw out variety; but the greatest landscape painters known are undoubtedly Titian [10] and Poussin. [11]

Titian's pen, as velvety as it is expressive, served him happily when he drew landscapes. Apart from his beautiful and unmannered fashion of rendering the leaves of the trees, and showing with accuracy the different natures of the terraces, the mountains, and the singular buildings, he even found the secret of rendering landscapes interesting by the choice of sites and the contrast of light: the vast majority have regarded Titian as the greatest designer of landscape paintings who has yet appeared.

Poussin has aroused our passions as much with his landscapes as his history paintings. Who has not heard, says Abbé Dubos, [12] of that famous country that we imagine existed during a time when the sojourn of the inhabitants was the happiest that the earth has ever brought forth. Men always occupied with their pleasures, who knew no other worries or misfortunes than those that they undergo in stories, these chimerical shepherds who make us envy their condition.

The picture of which I speak represents the landscape of a delightful country; in the middle we see the monument to a young girl who died in the flower of youth, as we know from the statue of this girl lying on the tomb in the ancient manner; the sepulchral inscription is only four Latin words: yet I lived in Arcadia, et in Arcadia ego.  [13] But this very short inscription makes for the most serious reflection by the two young boys and the two young girls adorned with garlands of flowers, who appear to have encountered this very sad monument in a place where we divine they were not expecting to find something so disturbing. One of them points out this inscription with his finger to the others and we see, through the distress that comes over their faces, only the vestiges of expiring joy. We imagine hearing the thoughts of these young people about death which spares neither age nor beauty, and which even the happiest climates have no defense against. We imagine what they will say when they return from their first shock, and we apply it to ourselves and to those we care about.

The sight of the landscape painting that represents the deluge which adorns the Palais du Luxembourg overwhelms us with the event before our eyes, the upheaval of the universe. [14] We believe we see the world ending, so it is true that Poussin has painted all the effects of nature in his landscapes just as well as the passions of the soul in his history paintings.

The celebrated Rubens is still, in his school, [15] the prince of landscape painting, and we can say that he also treated it as exceptionally well as anyone. The Flemish and the Dutch had a special taste for this genre of painting as their works attest.

Brueghel (Jan), [16] nicknamed “Velvet Brueghel,” plied the brush with infinite skill in painting foliage on the trees. He put flowers, fruits, animals and vehicles in his landscapes with great intelligence.

Bril (Mathias) had already made his taste for landscape paintings known when he died in Rome at the age of 34, but his brother Paulus exceeded it by far.  [17] His pictures in this genre are commendable for the sites and backgrounds recognized by their soft brushwork, light touch, and veristic manner of rendering all the objects; we only find a little too much green in his pictures.

Swanevelt (Herman) [18] is a master in the art of painting trees, in his drawings of animals, and in his spirited touch. We also have from this charming artist landscapes engraved in etching which make a great effect.

Van der Meer, (Jan) [19] adorned his landscape paintings with views of the sea, and figures drawn with spirit; but his brother de Jonghe far surpassed him in the painting of animals which he placed in his landscape paintings, especially the sheep whose wool he represents with an art that is completely convincing; his figures, his skies, his trees have a superior style: one cannot distinguish any brushstrokes, everything is blended into an singular harmony.

Van Uden (Lucas), [20] born in Antwerp in 1595 and died about the year 1660, is ranked among the famous landscape painters. A light stroke, elegant and precise, characterizes his style; his skies have a brilliant radiance, his sites are pleasant and varied, the view dissolves in the distance he was able to represent: we believe we see the trees rustled by the wind, and the elegantly drawn figures give new value to his paintings.

Berchem (Nicolaes) [21] is one of the great Dutch landscape painters; his pictures are especially pleasing for the striking effects of light, and by his skill in painting the skies.

Breenbergh (Bartholomeus) [22] adorned his landscapes with beautiful buildings he drew during his stay in Italy: his little figures have an admirable svelteness.

Griffier (Jan) [23] was particularly attached to making his landscapes brilliant by representing the most beautiful views of the Thames.

Poelenburg (Cornelius) [24] often adorned the backgrounds of his landscape with the ruins of ancient Rome; his brush is smooth and soft; the transparency of his color is especially noticeable in the beauty of his skies.

Potter (Paulus) [25] rendered with much artistry the different effects that the heat and glare of the burning sun can make on the countryside; the animals are painted there with the utmost truth, and the great finish of his landscapes made them sought after with a kind of avidity; however, they do not speak to the mind, because he placed only one or two figures there, and his sites are poor, because he only painted views of Holland which are flat with very little variety.

Ruisdael (Jacob), [26] born in Harlem in 1640, is one of the famous landscape painters of the country. He committed himself to representing seascapes and storms in his pictures; his sites please, his color is vigorous, and his figures are commonly by the hand of van Ostade. [27]

Wouverman [Philips] [28] ornamented his landscapes with hunts, [cavalry] halts, military encampments, attacks on villages, skirmishes, and other subjects in which he could place the horses he drew perfectly. His pictures are valued for the spirited turn of the figures, for the blending of colors by fluid and attractive brushwork, by the harmony of chiaroscuro [29], and finally by a priceless finish.

The landscapes of Van Everdingen (Adriaen) [30] are sought after in Holland for the free brushstrokes and the taste of this master.

Zacht - Leeven (Herman), [31] born in Rotterdam in 1609, died in Utrecht in 1685, made very striking landscapes by the choice of sites, by the beauty of his color, and by the art with which he represented the distant light which seems to flee and vanish from view.

Finally, all of the Van de Veldes [32] more or less distinguished themselves in landscape painting ; we love the naive little figures with which they are ornamented.

With regard to the artists of Great Britain, as nothing cheers us like the countryside of England, more than one painter there makes a happy use of the charming aspects that present themselves on all sides. Pictures of landscapes are very fashionable there and pay very well, so this genre is cultivated there with great success. There are not many Flemish or Dutch artists who are far superior to the landscape painters who enjoy the highest reputation in England today.

Notes

1. Francesco Albani (1578-1660) was a Bolognese painter trained by the Carracci.

2. Although Jaucourt does not specify which member of the Bassano family of painters he is referring to, it is likely Jacopo (ca. 1510-1592). Also known as Jacopo da Ponte, he adopted the Venetian manner of painting religious subjects in pastoral scenery.

3. Francesco Maria Borzone (b. 1625-1679) of Genoa painted landscapes and seascapes in the style of the French painters Claude Lorrain and Gaspard Dughet whom he met in Rome. He became court painter to Louis XIV.

4. Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), a famous Bolognese painter who created the “classical” or “ideal landscape” as a setting for religious and mythological paintings. See the entry on Landscape Painting, n. 2.

5. Giorgione del Castelfranco (ca. 1477-1510), Venetian painter who introduced the pastoral landscape.

6. Gaspard Dughet (1615-75), born in Rome, was trained by his brother-in-law, Nicolas Poussin, whose surname he adopted.

7. Claude Gelée (1604-82), called Lorrain after his birthplace, formed with Poussin and Dughet the trio of celebrated seventeenth-century French painters in Rome. He was known for sketching outdoors on the Roman Campagna.

8. Pier Francesco Mola (1612-66), the son of an architect, was raised in Rome and studied in Venice and Bologna.

9. Girolamo Muziano (1532-92) of Brescia was a student of the Dutch painter Lambert Sustris (ca. 1515-84), active in Venice.

10. Tiziano Vecelli (ca.1488-1576), the leader of the Venetian High Renaissance, was celebrated for his dynamic compositions, rich color and innovative free brushwork.

11. Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), the most important French painter of the seventeenth century, designed idealized landscapes with geometric solidity that suited the gravitas of his classical and religious narratives. See the entry on Landscape Painting, n. 5.

12. The entire paragraph above on Poussin’s Arcadia is borrowed from Dubos’ Réflexions (Vol. 1, Chapter VI). See the entry on Landscape Painting, n.4.

13. Nicolas Poussin produced two different paintings with shepherds at ancient tombs inscribed Et in Arcadia Ego . Both are titled Les Bergers d’Arcadie . The first version was painted in 1627 (Chatsworth House) and the second was executed from 1638-40 (Louvre Museum); neither composition corresponds exactly to the description above.

14. The Deluge , also known as L’Hiver, is one of the series on the Four Seasons (Louvre Museum) painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1660-64 for the Duc de Richelieu.

15. Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Flemish. See the entry on Landscape Painting, n. 6.

16. Jan Brueghel (1568-1625), Flemish, the son of Pieter Brueghel the Elder (ca. 1525-1569).

17. Mathias Brill (1550-1583) and his younger brother, Paulus Brill (ca. 1554-1626), were Flemish landscape painters who worked in Rome.

18. Herman van Swanevelt (1604-1655), Dutch.

19. The similar names of this Dutch family of painters from Haarlem have confused their identities. Jaucourt may be referring to Jan van der Meer the Elder (1628-1691). His son, Jan van der Meer de Jonghe (1656-1705), painted landscapes with sheep.

20. Lucas Van Uden (1595-72), Flemish.

21. Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Dutch.

22. Bartholomeus Breenbergh (1598-1657), Dutch.

23. Jan Griffier, (1652-1718) Dutch, worked in England and was admitted to the London Company of Painter-Stainers in 1677.

24. Cornelius van Poelenburg (1594-1667), Dutch.

25. Paulus Potter (1625-1654), Dutch.

26. Jacob van Ruisdael (ca.1628-1682), Dutch.

27. Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685), Dutch.

28. Philips Wouverman (1619-1668), Dutch.

29. Chiaroscuro , literally light-dark, is an Italian technical term for the contrasts of light and shadow that simulate volume in painting. Roger de Piles introduced the term into the French language as clair-obscur in Cours de Peinture par Principes (1708).

30. Adriaen van Everdingen (1621-1675), Dutch.

31. Herman Zacht-Leeven (1609-1685), Dutch.

32. Willem van de Velde the Elder (ca. 1611-1693) and his son, Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707), were Dutch marine painters who worked in England from 1673. Another son, Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672), was known for his painting of landscapes with animals.